Steam irons



April 29, 9 J. H. BEACH 2,832,160

STEAM IRONS Fild Sept. 2, 1954 v 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 Fig./

April 29, 1953 J. H. BEACH 2,832,160

STEAM IRONS Filed Sept. 2, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 tats STEAM IRONS Justice H. Beach, Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of @liio Application September 2, 1954, Serial No. 453,851

2 Claims. (*Cl. 38--77) steam iron having a water head chamber for the water discharged into a steam generator and which is refilled when the iron is moved away from and to the ironing position. Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings wherein:

Figure 1 shows the iron partly in section and in iron ing position with the water head chamber refilled with water, and

Figure 2 illustrates the iron in upended rest position and the water collected at one end of the reservoir.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed comprises a sole plate ill, a water reservoir 11, cover shell 12 and a handle 13. Arranged in the sole plate ll is an embedded U-shapcd heating element 14 to heat the ironing surface 15" and a steam generating chamber to which communicates with a steam passageway 17 provided with unshown ports for discharge of steam on the material to be ironed. A cover plate 13 is attached by screws 19 to the sole plate It? and forms part of the steam passageway 17 and is provided with an opening 20 above the I steam generator lb. A member 21 is secured to the cover plate 18 and is provided with an apertured concave seat 22 in which a boss 23 projecting from the reservoir Ill rests and has its end 24 extending into the steam generating chamber 16. The boss 23 is threaded at 25 to a sleeve 26 secured to the bottom wall 9 of the reservoir and has a discharge port 27 leading from the reservoir to the steam generating chamber filo for passage of water thereto. The reservoir 11 is positioned above the sole plate It) by resting on a bracket 23 and the boss 23 bearing against the concave seat 22.

A thermostat 30 is suitably secured to the sole plate l0 and has a stem 31 extending through a tube 32 in the reservoir l]. and an opening 33 in the cover shell lit for attachment to a dial 3 which is rotated to operate the thermostat for obtaining the desired temperatures in the sole plate Ml. The cover shell 12 is remo-vably secured to the sole plate ill by a bolt 35 passing through a tube 36 in the reservoir and threaded into a nut 37 rigid on the sole plate 1d.

The handle 13 has its rear leg attached to the cover shell 12 by a screw 39, and its front leg 40 is secured by a bracket 41 and screw 4-2.. A projection 5-3 is proiii vided at the rear end of the handle 13 and cooperates with end. dd of the shell 12. to support the iron in upended rest position as shown in Figure 2.

A fill tube a5 is staked at ii? to the top wall d7 of the reservoir 11 and projects through the cover shell 12 into a recess 48 in the handle front leg lb and is provided with a fill opening 49 and port 5% for entrance of water into the reservoir lit. A valve stem til is slidably supported in the fill tube $53 by a bracket 52 and is provided at its lower end with a needle valve 555) to control flow of water through the port into the steam generating chamber 16. The upper end of the valve stem 51 is provided with an elongated opening $4 receiving a pin 55 mounted on a valve actuator 56 pivotally supported at 1'57 in the handle leg d ll, and an over center acting spring 58 maintains the needle valve 53 in open or closed position to control the water discharge port 237.

The reservoir 11 includes the bottom and top walls 9- l-7 and a partition or bafiie so all secured together by a rolled head or, and the tubes 32-36 have a water tight connection 62 with the walls and partition of the reservoir. The partition so divides the reservoir ll into lower and upper water chambers 63 and 54- respectively, and is inclined downwardly from the rear end 65 to cause water on the partition to How toward the front end 66 of the reservoir. A pair of ports 67 and 68 are formed in the partition 60, and tubular walls 69 extend upwardly therefrom into the upper water chamber 64 to trap water therein as shown in Figure 1.. Secured in water tight relation to the underside of the baffle 64 and the reservoir lower Wall 9 is a tubular member 7d the upper end of which is exposed to an opening '7 in the bafile 60 for entrance of water from the upper chamber 6d. The tube '70 encloses the opening 72 to the discharge port 27 and is of sufiicient height to form a chamber 7'3 for Water which will provide a head or pressure to the water being fed to the discharge port 27.

When using the iron for steam ironing the reservoir 11 is first filled with water by placing the iron in its upended rest position as shown in Figure 2 and water is poured into the fill opening 4% and passes through the port Stl into the upper water chamber 644 and initially collects at the lower end thereof until the volume of water rises to the port 67 and then it passes therethrough to thereafter fill the chambers 63 and 64- with water. The dial 345 is then moved to its steam position to heat the sole plate it and the steam generator l6 and after sufiicient time has clasped for such heating the actuator an is moved rearwardly to shift the valve steam 5'1 and uncover the discharge port 27 to the generator 16, thereafter the iron is placed in its ironing position with the sole plate ltd resting on the material to be ironed.

At the beginning of the ironing period the water nlls the two chambers 63-64 and the height of the water is above the water head chamber '73 to thereby provide sufficient water pressure to the port 27 to uniformly feed water to the generator 16, and thus furnish a constant steam supply. When the water level is reduced to below tion db and through the opening 71 into the chamber 73 to provide a water head therein of greater height than could be supplied by the water level 74 in the reservoir ll. The tubular extension so of the ports: til-63 project above the partition it to trap additional water 75 which flows through the opening 71 into the chamber 73 to replenish the latter with Water without the necessity of moving the iron to its rest position and returning it to its ironing position.

From the foregoing it will be perceived I have provided a steam iron wherein as the Water level in the reservoir is lowered a head of water greater than that supplied by the lowered Water level is obtained by shifting the iron to its rest position and back to its ironing position, to thereby insure a more uniform supply of Water to the steam generator and consequently a constant supply of steam to the fabric being ironed.

While I have shown and described but one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this embodiment is to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense. I do not Wish to be limited to the particular structure shown and described but to include all equivalent variations except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a steam iron, 21 Water reservoir, a steam generating chamber, a discharge port in said reservoir for passage of Water to said chamber, means supporting the iron in rest position, means in said reservoir defining a water head chamber of restricted volume compared to said reservoir and connected to said discharge port to provide a greater head to the water passing through said discharge port when the iron is in its ironing position than the head of Water in said reservoir, partition means separating said reservoir .into upper and lower Water chambers, means defining a port in said partition for passage from said lower chamber to said upper chamber of Water displaced in said lower chamber by the action of gravity upon moving the iron to its said rest position to thereby replenish the upper chamber with Water, means trapping added water in said upper chamber upon moving the iron to its ironing position, and means defining an opening in said partition for passage of trapped Water from said upper chamber to said water head chamber when the iron is in its ironing position to reestablish a Water head at said discharge port.

2. In a steam iron, a water reservoir, steam generating means, a discharge port in said reservoir for passage of Water to said steam generating means, means defining a water head chamber of restricted volume compared to said reservoir, said Water head chamber projecting from said discharge port inwardly of said reservoir and having its upper inlet end above the water level in said reservoir when the iron is in ironing position to provide a greater head to the Water passing through said port than the head of Water in said reservoir, bafile means in said reservoir and including means for entrance thereto of Water displaced in said reservoir by action of gravity when said iron is moved to non-ironing position, means to retain displaced Water in said bailie means when said iron is returned to ironing position, and means connecting said bafiie means to said inlet of said headchamber for conveying retained Water to said head chamber to refill the latter with water upon returning the iron to its ironing position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,160,421 Sebo May 30, 1939 2,506,941 Scott May 9, 1950 2,668,378 Vance Feb. 9, 1954 2,727,320 Vance Dec. 20, 1955 

